FGCU draws 14-seed and rematch in NCAA TournamentCape Coral pushes back on bill to ban community redevelopment agencies
FGCU FGCU draws 14-seed and rematch in NCAA Tournament FGCU draws a 14-seed and rematch of last year’s first round with 3-seeded Oklahoma for round one of the NCAA Tournament.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral pushes back on bill to ban community redevelopment agencies The Cape Coral City Council is pushing back against a new bill introduced by their state representative, Mike Giallombardo, which aims to ban Community Redevelopment Agencies.
FORT MYERS BEACH Spring break brings excitement and business boom to Fort Myers Beach Fort Myers Beach is buzzing with excitement as spring breakers from across the country descend on this popular destination.
MARCO ISLAND Seventh Marco Island city councilor sworn in after months of discussion Marco Island’s city council has finally filled its vacant seventh seat after over four months of deliberations.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers council weighs ICE role for local police in immigration tasks The Fort Myers City Council is currently discussing a potential agreement between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Fort Myers Police Department.
FORT MYERS BEACH WINK Investigates: Where is the money for Hurricane Ian victim? WINK News investigates a contractor dispute involving Joe Salvaggio, who paid for home repairs after Hurricane Ian but never saw the work completed.
TALLAHASSEE Barron Collier grad pitches first game for FSU since heart surgeries FSU pitcher Jacob Marlowe, a Barron Collier High School grad, played his first baseball game after two open heart surgeries.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man arrested for DUI after allegedly threatening police on Del Prado Blvd. A routine sobriety test in Cape Coral quickly escalated when a man became irate with a police officer.
Florida restaurants may lose automatic tips for groups under 6 Lawmakers are currently debating a change that could impact how diners tip in Florida.
FORT MYERS Florida bill aims to ease phone repairs for locals and small businesses A new Florida House bill aims to make do-it-yourself repairs easier for device owners and independent repair providers.
Paddy Murphy’s Irish Pub rolls out food menu on Marco Island Although Paddy Murphy’s Irish Pub launched on Marco Island last St. Patrick’s Day, the bar didn’t roll out its extensive food menu until this year.
Deputies catch 2 unregistered sex offenders in DeSoto County The DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office caught two unregistered sex offenders from Missouri last week on Brevard Avenue.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers police investigating body found in house A death investigation is underway at a Fort Myers home.
Suspect identified in Cypress West double shooting; found in Mississippi The authorities in Mississippi have a suspect in custody that Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies believe shot and injured two people in Cypress West Apartment Home Community.
Lee County food drive to support Harry Chapin Food Bank Lee County Solid Waste is kicking off its eighth annual “Donated not Wasted” campaign, encouraging people to donate unopened pantry items.
FGCU FGCU draws 14-seed and rematch in NCAA Tournament FGCU draws a 14-seed and rematch of last year’s first round with 3-seeded Oklahoma for round one of the NCAA Tournament.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral pushes back on bill to ban community redevelopment agencies The Cape Coral City Council is pushing back against a new bill introduced by their state representative, Mike Giallombardo, which aims to ban Community Redevelopment Agencies.
FORT MYERS BEACH Spring break brings excitement and business boom to Fort Myers Beach Fort Myers Beach is buzzing with excitement as spring breakers from across the country descend on this popular destination.
MARCO ISLAND Seventh Marco Island city councilor sworn in after months of discussion Marco Island’s city council has finally filled its vacant seventh seat after over four months of deliberations.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers council weighs ICE role for local police in immigration tasks The Fort Myers City Council is currently discussing a potential agreement between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Fort Myers Police Department.
FORT MYERS BEACH WINK Investigates: Where is the money for Hurricane Ian victim? WINK News investigates a contractor dispute involving Joe Salvaggio, who paid for home repairs after Hurricane Ian but never saw the work completed.
TALLAHASSEE Barron Collier grad pitches first game for FSU since heart surgeries FSU pitcher Jacob Marlowe, a Barron Collier High School grad, played his first baseball game after two open heart surgeries.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral man arrested for DUI after allegedly threatening police on Del Prado Blvd. A routine sobriety test in Cape Coral quickly escalated when a man became irate with a police officer.
Florida restaurants may lose automatic tips for groups under 6 Lawmakers are currently debating a change that could impact how diners tip in Florida.
FORT MYERS Florida bill aims to ease phone repairs for locals and small businesses A new Florida House bill aims to make do-it-yourself repairs easier for device owners and independent repair providers.
Paddy Murphy’s Irish Pub rolls out food menu on Marco Island Although Paddy Murphy’s Irish Pub launched on Marco Island last St. Patrick’s Day, the bar didn’t roll out its extensive food menu until this year.
Deputies catch 2 unregistered sex offenders in DeSoto County The DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office caught two unregistered sex offenders from Missouri last week on Brevard Avenue.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers police investigating body found in house A death investigation is underway at a Fort Myers home.
Suspect identified in Cypress West double shooting; found in Mississippi The authorities in Mississippi have a suspect in custody that Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies believe shot and injured two people in Cypress West Apartment Home Community.
Lee County food drive to support Harry Chapin Food Bank Lee County Solid Waste is kicking off its eighth annual “Donated not Wasted” campaign, encouraging people to donate unopened pantry items.
The beaches of Southwest Florida are a major attraction and a key reason why many visit or move to the area. But with hurricanes and natural beach erosion, sand renourishment is often necessary. But could the process of fixing our beaches do more harm than good? 10 miles off Sanibel, a sand dredging project is underway. Next to sand sediments kicked up from dredging, the Gulf is stained with orangish streaks of red tide. This is not dredging for Sanibel beaches. Sanibel trucks in sand from a mine in Moore Haven to replenish its beaches. In Collier County, Park Shore Beach sources its sand from a mine in Immokalee. Fort Myers Beach started its renourishment before Thanksgiving. The town started work on the South end in early February and hope to have all projects done in March. “For tourism, it’s huge. It’s our main industry in Florida. So we want to keep our beaches in good shape. You know, sand is always moving around and getting we will. You can see some parts of the beach where there’s basically no more beach,” said Chadd Chustz, environmental manager for the Town of Fort Myers Beach. But it’s more than maintenance, “also for the wildlife, if there’s no sand and then there’s no nesting habitat, and makes them difficult to recover from their threatened status,” added Chustz. The sand used to replenish Fort Myers Beach is dredged 1.5 miles off the island. 10 miles off Sanibel, is another dredging project for Lee County Beaches. While sand is dredged in the Gulf, red tide is running rampant. The question has been raised, what is their relationship? “Dredging can cause some direct and indirect effects. So when you’re dredging up the bottom sediments, that re-suspends nutrients and potential other pollutants that are in that layer down there on the bottom,” said John Cassani, Calusa Waterkeeper emeritus. Red tide is one of Southwest Florida’s original settlers, it’s natural but, “The frequency, duration, and severity that we’re seeing now in recent decades, is not natural,” said Cassani. Mike Parsons, a professor of marine science at Florida Gulf Coast University, has a different perspective on sand dredging and red tide. “There probably is not a strong relationship between the dredging and the blooms. The sediments can be a source of nutrients to feed red tide, but usually, sand doesn’t have that much nutrients in it,” Parsons said. But Parsons notes, there’s still a lot we don’t know. “It’s something that’s under studied, and it’s something that we probably need to get better numbers on so it’s possible, but I don’t, I don’t think in this case, because, you know, the hurricanes really mixed a lot of things up,” Parsons added. While we may not yet fully understand the relationship between red tide and dredging we know their relationships with our economy and tourism. Without the beaches, tourism drops, and with red tide on the beaches, tourism drops as well.